(April 29, 2010)  Washington – Trotting out tired and oft-refuted rhetoric yet again, the nation’s corporate livestock lobbies seek to stand in the way of America’s transition to renewable fuels. In a letter to Congress, these groups insist on recycling the canard that ethanol is responsible for higher corn costs and oppose tax incentives critical to the continued growth and evolution of American renewable fuels.

Correcting the record, the Renewable Fuels Association released the following statement:

“Once again, corporate livestock interests are seeking to return to the days they bought corn under the price of production for the American farmer. Such practices resulted in farmers getting more income from the government than they could from the marketplace, while corporate livestock industries prospered.

“America’s commitment to ethanol and other renewable fuels has brought hundreds of thousands of jobs and increased economic opportunity to rural America like nothing before it. It is providing farmers with a fair market price for their corn, reducing the price American’s pay at the pump, and help tame America’s addiction to oil.

“Ethanol is not the major driving force behind corn prices, whether they are rising or falling. Oil prices, speculation, weather, and a host of other factors have far more to do with the price of corn than ethanol production. Consider that since the peak of corn prices in 2008, oil prices have fallen by half and speculation in grain markets has eased considerably. As a result, corn prices have moderated to a more sustainable level given the increase in oil prices from pre-RFS days.

“American farmers have repeatedly shown the capability to produce enough corn to meet all needs and still have bushels left over at the end of the year. To continue blaming ethanol for corn prices after such arguments have been roundly refuted is beyond misleading."